Hiraeth Of The Heart (Tweek X Craig)

Chapter 18, Homesick

   Once I stepped into my not-so-familiar home, Immediate heavy footsteps rushed against the wooden floor and echoed through the house.  It was my mom.  Her short blonde hair swinging in front of her face as she forced herself to stop beside of the kitchen entryway, one hand holding the wooden door frame for support.

"Tweek!"  She called to me while letting go of the doorway, sweeping her hair behind her ear, and swiftly stepping to my side to embrace me in a tight hug. 

She slapped her hands onto my shoulders harshly, holding me in place as if letting go would result in me running from her and never coming back, which of course was an overstatement.

"Where were you?  It's already sundown and you had me worried to death!" 

She nagged while tightly squeezing my shoulders together.  It was obvious she was more or less just happy I was home rather than angry.
I couldn't help but twitch in her grip when I remember that Craig was just behind me. 

"I-I stayed after school to study."  I stuttered through my tender lips.  My mother gave a questioning look to the blue hat I had placed over the top of my head as she swept my blonde hair away from my green eyes.  The same green eyes I had decided I hated.

"Don't ever worry me like that again."  She squeaked with a hand against my cheek.

At first, I began to think she couldn't see Craig, but my thoughts were quickly overwritten when she looked past my tense shoulder and directly at him.

"Is your friend staying the night Again, Tweek?"  She looked back at me with a bit of a frantic expression, pursing her red lips together.  I couldn't seem to put my finger on what her expression translated to, but she seemed a bit concerned at first glance.

"Yes."  I slurred.  My eyes turned towards the floor as if an interesting book was carved into the wooden panels I had been stepping on.

Craig approached my mother with a small smile and an outreached hand.  She let go of me hesitantly and took his hand in her own as he spoke, a smile plotted into her aged, yet still seemingly youthful face with a sincere look in her eyes. 

"Nice to meet you Mrs. Tweak."  His nasled voice slipped from his throat, soaked with flattery.
"My name is Cra-"

"CRANE!"  I finished.

Both my mother and Craig jolted as their faces twisted in confusion. 
I twitched in place, my shoulders tensing at their reactions.

"His name I mean, it's Crane."

Craig began to open his mouth to protest, but his lips were soon sealed tightly.  My mother looked just as confused as Craig, if not more.  She glanced back at him.  If I knew my mother, she would have heard already of the recent death of  'Craig Tucker.'  It was no secret; he was the talk of the town.  A youthful teenager taking his own life.

"Well, it's nice to meet you,"  her eyes flowed to my direction as she spoke. "Crane." 

I shivered with anxiety, my heavy outburst only causing it to fill my head and overflow my thoughts. 

Letting go of his hand, she slowly turned around and began to approach me once again.  My face was gripped between her slender fingers as she bumped her forehead against mine.  A confused face subtly faded into a concerned one as she smiled softly at me.

"Get some rest, Tweek."

I attempted to upturn my frown and give my mother the best attempt at a fake smile as possible.  It was useless regardless; my acting is awful.  She let go of me, telling me and Craig both goodnight before she made her way out of the living room.  I watched her shadow warp onto the walls as she left the room.